Nation pays homage to Rajiv Gandhi on his 74th birth anniversary

New Delhi : The nation is paying homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 74th birth anniversary today.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and several Congress leaders paid floral tributes to the Ex-Prime Minister at Veer Bhumi here on Monday morning.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today remembered Rajiv Gandhi’s efforts towards the nation.

Tributes to our former Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji on his birth anniversary. We remember his efforts towards the nation.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 20, 2018

Rahul Gandhi also took to Twitter to remember his father as “a kind, gentle and affectionate man”. The Gandhi scion wrote that his father’s “untimely death left a deep void” in his life.

Rajiv Gandhi was a kind, gentle and affectionate man whose untimely death left a deep void in my life.

I remember the times we had together and the many birthdays we were lucky to celebrate with him when he was alive.

He is greatly missed, but his memory lives on. pic.twitter.com/IGwTDJprRd

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 20, 2018

Several programmes are being organised in different parts of the country to mark the occasion.

Born on August 20, 1944, Rajiv Gandhi served as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989. During his 5-year tenure as Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi planted the seeds for the IT revolution and mobile telephone among other developmental initiatives.He represented Amethi in parliament in 1981, 1984, 1989 and 1991.

Rajiv Gandhi, a recipient of Bharat Ratna, was assassinated in a suicide bombing at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1991.